Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Nobody wants to be exploited sexually

Story First Published: April 16, 2014 10:14 IST the next day of the Supreme Court of India's verdict recognizing transgender people as third gender.

Tuesday will be remembered forever as an important day for the transgender people of India.

Non-heterosexuality
and transgenderism are not new in our society and the history of our
country has recorded transgender people's presence all over.

The
transgender community has been listed as a criminal tribe since a
century ago during the British empire and since then has been
misunderstood, ostracised, marginalised and discriminated till today.

This
ignorance has driven us out of our homes and families and till today,
the transgenders of India have remained as beggars seeking their rights
and have been exploited sexually.

Though abandoned by our
families, we are embraced by other transgender people in the hijjra
community. For a transgender person, it is really hell of a life to live
in a society that completely misunderstands that because of the social
ignorance and prevalence throughout.

The historical Supreme
Court judgment will pave the way for social recognition and family
acceptance which is very important for any transgender person. At this
moment, I salute my fellow activists who joined hands with me in the
battle for equality.

We have been fighting for so many years now.
It is a very proud moment for this handful of educated and
not-so-educated people from the community who broke the barrier and
continued their life with courage, and rose up to voice their rights.

If
we talk about India's laws today, Article 21 in our Constitution
already ensures right to privacy and personal dignity for all citizens
including transgenders. Article 23 prohibits trafficking human beings
and beggars, forced labour etc.

Three Transwomen - an art by Kalki Subramaniam

There are many such articles,
especially article 14 and 15 that prohibit discrimination on the grounds
of religion, race, sex or place of birth.

These laws are not
only for men and women. They also talk about a person, a citizen of
India, and transgender people are citizens of India. These laws protect
all people including transgenders, but they have been doing so only in
books

Practically speaking this judgment will be an important
one and it will pave the way in the future for recognition at various
levels for right to education, employment, speech, housing, family,
marriage and adoption of children. All this will be possible for
transgender people through this historical and wonderful judgment.

For
many years now, transgender activists from across the country have been
sensitising the judiciary of India and also advocating with the policy
makers of the country for recognising our rights and also for including
us in all welfare measures. It is our right to live a dignified life.

No
one wants to be a beggar. No one wants to be exploited sexually. We
want to live like any other human being in this country. We deserve a
family. We also deserve happiness. We also have the social obligation
and thirst to contribute to the country's welfare - for the civil
society.

And abandoning or ostracising us will make us live a
nightmarish life. This judgment has shown us hope for our future and for
generations coming up. At least the next generation of transgender
people will not be begging or doing sex work because this legal decision
has paved the way for us.

Transgender teenagers can now continue their studies...dropouts will reduce enormously.

Most
transgenders today are begging and doing sex work because they are
school dropouts. They are not qualified to get a good job.

This
judgment will ensure that they get good education which will result in a
well-qualified job. Even if a family abandons them, they can choose to
live an economically independent life.

I personally welcome this
judgment because I wanted to have a family. I wanted to marry and
though I can't bear children, I wanted to adopt and marry the person I
love. This judgment shows me hope that it is possible to have that
life.

Follow Kalki on FaceBook

About Kalki

Kalki is an activist, author and an actor. She is a well known activist in India working on transgender rights. She is also the founder of Sahodari Foundation, an organization working
for the social, economic and political empowerment of transgender
persons in India.

A transsexual woman herself, Kalki holds two Master’s degrees - First one
in Journalism and Mass Communication and the second in International
Relations.She fiercely campaigns for social,
political, and economic equity and rights of transgender and intersex
people.

Through Sahodari Foundation, Kalki works within the transgender community on several issues, for example, by creating empowerment programs like entrepreneurship training which can positively change the poor transgenderand intersex people’s livelihood choices – a life away from begging, a life with dignity. She also provides counseling and guidance for a better life after transitioning. With the public, she advocates against transgender discrimination and hatred and voices for inclusion of transgender and intersex people at all levels. She has lectured in numerous prestigious institutions like IIT Madras, Jindal Global Law School, National Judicial Academy and many more institutions across India. She has also represented India in seminars internationally.

On the professional side, Kalki is an actress, short documentary film maker, script writer and a published author. Her collection of poetry in Tamil titled 'Kuri Aruthean' was published recently by reputed publishing house Vikatan publishers. She is currently working two of her books, her first English book and her second Tamil book.

On February 21st 2009, Kalki was awarded the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' by the Lioness Club of Chennai in appreciation of her transgender rights advocacy work. She has received several awards for her contribution towards transgender rights. Kalki was one of the major campaigners behind the Indian Supreme Court's verdict legalising transgender as Third Sex in the country.

In October 2010, Ms.Kalki was invited by the government of the United States of America for a 16 days Human Rights activism & Awareness program through IVLP to Washington DC, New York and SaltLake City. She is the first transsexual foreign national to be invited by the United States government.She has also been invited internationally to speak on marginalized people's rights.

Kalki's debut in Indian film world happened with 'Narthaki', an offbeat film about the life journey of a transsexual woman - her quest for happiness, love and finding her identity and true happiness. She became the first transsexual film star in India to do a lead role in a major feature film.

In 2012, she was honoured with an invitation to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi to participate in the swearing in ceremony of Chief Justice of India Honourable Altamas Kabir.

In 2013, Junior Chamber International Pondicherry White Town presented her the Outstanding Social Worker Award.

In 2015, for her turmoil account of life through poetry in her Tamil book 'Kuri Aruthaen', she received the Best Poet award from Born2Win Trust, Chennai.